ZOE C. WALKER

This book re-examines the American Dream through the lens of Black public opinion. Advancing on existing work about the centrality of values in public opinion, I contextualize the popular and fondly-regarded narrative of upward mobility through hard work and thrift within a growing body of literature which shows that Black people encounter persistent, racial barriers to economic advancement, no matter how hard they work. This re-framing serves two purposes: first, it calls on scholars to regard public opinion about economic mobility with more scrutiny, particularly among disadvantaged groups. Without careful consideration of the social, political and economic constraints on Black Americans, analysis of Black public opinion about opportunity and economic mobility is incomplete. Second, this re-framing offers a nuanced account of the tension between American exceptionalism and structural racism in Black public opinion.

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In a departure from existing theories of Black public public opinion, which center Black Americans' alienation and exclusion from the American Project as the impetus of their political behavior, I consider how Black Americans' conflicting racial and national identities inform their attitudes about the nature of  racial inequality. Drawing on the DuBoisian concept of double-consciousness and in conversation with work on national identity, citizenship and colorblindness, I introduce a new framework, American While Black, to describe the unique ideological beliefs at the heart of Black public opinion about racial inequality. The American While Black framework challenges existing theories of Black public opinion and political ideology by suggesting that Blacks' attachment to the American Dream narrative is an equally important axis of Black public opinion as are attitudes about racial discrimination. By explicitly interrogating Black Americans' interpretations of American values, the values that distinguish America as ``exceptional", this framework enriches our understanding of how American values can help (or harm) the pursuit of racial equality.

 

The implications of believing the American Dream can be achieved in a society where racial disparities are still widespread have scarcely been explored in political science. Moreover, the heterogeneity within Black public opinion about the nature of racial inequality deserves its own careful analysis over and above a comparison with White Americans' attitudes. By understanding how Black Americans interpret and respond to the myth of American meritocracy, we glean a richer understanding of how the narrative that hard work "pays off" in America organizes American racial politics.

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